shadowdoom9 (Andi)'s Forum Threads
Similarly to last month's playlist, this one plays out like an epic hero story that could fit well in a movie or a video game, except for one final boss to defeat during the 11-minute epic, followed by a final uplifting trancecore track for an epilogue level in a treasure trove similar to that of Spiral Knights. This I think could make the playlist more interesting, along with more appealing based on the order, for anyone up to listening to a long 2-hour playlist, but that's just what I think. Enjoy! I'm gonna share with you my thoughts on all the selected tracks:
Darkest Hour - "Doomsayer (the Beginning of the End)" (from Deliver Us, 2007)
4.5/5. Time to begin with a great song from an underrated band! However, this is one of those bands I've abandoned with my death metal departure because of their other albums being in The Horde. Will I ever return to this band someday? You'll see in time!
Trivium - "Like a Sword Over Damocles" (from In the Court of the Dragon, 2021)
5/5. Another song from Trivium's new masterpiece album, showcasing the band's Nevermore influences in a prog-thrasher where Matt Heafy adds aggression to his singing then rises to the usual growling. The d*mn epic clean chorus should definitely get fists pumping in future live festivals. The title fits well with the perilously powerful pandemic and how our leaders are trying to prevent it from spreading further. Some more epic guitar fire in the dueling solo trade!
Unearth - "Lifetime in Ruins" (from Watchers of Rule, 2014)
4/5. Here the military-like breakdown really crucifies the song into headbanging territory without sounding too needless repetitive. Not the best Unearth song, but a good starter track for new fans.
Parkway Drive - "Crushed" (from Ire, 2015)
4.5/5. This is one of my brother's favorite Parkway Drive songs, and its album Ire's second single, starting with a monk-chanting intro before turning a groove track with heavy guitars and drums. The lyrics are political but used in a powerful way, especially in the first verse.
Mentally Blind - "One for No One" (from Stage Zero, 2021)
4.5/5. Another amazing song that I would recommend to anyone who likes their metalcore more brutal than mine. The awesome vocals flow through fantastic music worth gym works. Almost a sick entry into song of the year!
Convictions - "Thomas (feat. Matty Mullins)" (from I Am Nothing, 2012)
4/5. Good song with amazing lyrics. For anyone wanting to hear Matty Mullins from Memphis May Fire, his vocals start at the one and a half minute mark, you're welcome.
Currents - "Kill the Ache" (from The Way It Ends, 2020)
3.5/5. Another nicely song, with a cool contrast of clean and unclean vocals.
Annisokay - "Under Your Tattoos" (from Aurora, 2021)
4/5. Another great song to recommend to the more die-hard metalcore fans.
Aviana - "Retaliation" (from Retaliation, 2021)
4.5/5. Holy f***ing h*ll, some f***ing good fire burning from those intense vocals and lyrics! An amazing track to preserve and keep for the slightly more brutal metalcore fans than me. Enjoy the fury!
Silent Planet - "Trilogy" (from Iridescent, 2021)
5/5. I'm so happy to find this band recently. THIS is one of my favorite metalcore songs of the year, from a solid album this band has nailed. "It's always red, the static in my head", yep, not the Taylor Swift album that has been re-recorded. The new Silent Planet album Iridescent is what I prefer to hear instead. Amazing Tesseract and Oh Sleeper vibes to embrace with the very low guitar tone. Slightly rigid transitions here, but I digress.
Every Time I Die - "Dark Distance" (from Radical, 2021)
5/5. A blast right back into their discography that will stun you into stone. The band has delivered a furious frenzy in higher heights of heaviness. They took quite a tribute to their previous albums in this one, with that track putting a Daughters-like spin into the sound of their previous couple albums and first couple albums.
Between the Buried and Me - "Ad a dglgmut" (from The Silent Circus, 2003)
4.5/5. For one of the must brutal progressive metalcore songs, this band has sure made one of the most beautiful guitar solos in existence. I didn't get interested in this band until around 14 or 15 years after this album's release date. It's sad that I've ended up missing out on more of this beauty and power after giving up on this band earlier this year, but I'm glad to return. There are some awesome parts that give me chills every time. The softer mid-section, starting at the 3-minute mark, is a warm calm between two storms of chaotic rage. Incredible genius to enjoy! The last minute of this track is f***ing brutal, having already gone past that long soft section capable of beauty. They're just not as metalcore now as they were back then. Next stop, Alaska! (the album, not the US state, though I still wish to go there)
Neon Graves - "All That We've Become" (from All That Brings Us Down, 2020)
4.5/5. Holy f***, those vocals and instrumentation are just on f***ing fire here! The vocals especially give me chills.
Alpha Wolf - "#104" (from Mono, 2017)
5/5. If you know Pokemon, you know that "#104 in the Pokemon deck is Cubone. “Cubone lost its mother and wears the skull of its dead mother on its head. It is often said to cry loudly when it becomes lonesome, and weeps for it’s dead mother.” Hence the reference to the song lyrics about losing a loved one." Awesome and killer as f***!
Broken Youth - "Dis/connected" (from Suffering : Silence, Vol. 1, 2021)
4.5/5. H*ll yeah, some more good sh*t. The intro riff starts with Architects vibes, though sounding a bit lo-fi, and the rest of the song is worth playing Fortnite to (not that I ever have). An amazing song for our broken future, and maybe that future would bring back some touring. This song is an absolute f***ing banger, even at the clean parts. The song might remind some of ERRA...
LANDMVRKS - "Lost in a Wave" (from Lost in the Waves, 2021)
4/5. Some good pure melodic-ish brutal metalcore right here, though the music is too heavily focused on compared to the lyrics. Still there are killer surprises like that brief brutal breakdown before the final chorus.
Heliocentric - "Whispers" (from Ishmael, 2021)
3.5/5. This is a good one with some The Ocean-like ambience while still staying metalcore, evident in the great heavy screams. This dude (in a one-man band) has quite some passion. Garrett Russell from Silent Planet must've really inspired this guy in both the vocals and the lyrics, plus a bit of Crystal Lake-esque energy. However, I might not be completely ready for that next level...
Kingdom of Giants - "Runaway" (from All the Hell You've Got to Spare, 2017)
4/5. "I used to think that I could change the world, but now I'm afraid that I can't even change myself." Yeah, we're all there. This is quite a good headbanger, but it wasn't until the djenty bridge near the two and a half minute mark when things get easier for me, along with that ending groove riff. Quite some amazing progress here! 2017 was a great year for metalcore, with amazing album treats from While She Sleeps, August Burns Red, and Trivium. There were also sad times in other music areas, like Linkin Park's pop album and the subsequent suicide of Chester Bennington. Somewhere between these ups and downs is that Kingdom of Giants song.
Bring Me the Horizon - "A Lot Like Vegas" (from Count Your Blessings, 2006)
4.5/5. Here's where the darker, more brutal, deathcore part of the playlist begins. This is the kind of deathcore we need, with both guitar solos and breakdowns to allow the genre to rise away from the deep shame. Probably the best song of this album! Can you believe this band has recently been a pop group?! Still I wish albums like Count Your Blessings would have more success...
Ice Nine Kills - "Merry Axe-mas" (from The Silver Scream, 2018)
5/5. OK, this song is from a melodic metalcore album, but it's still brutal enough for this section of the playlist. This one is based on Silent Night, Deadly Night, and filled with jingling bells, hard fast music, growling vocals, and heavy guitar riffs, in contrast the upbeat melodic chorus, and a metal way of celebrating Christmas!
Bound in Fear - "Beyond the Mire" (from Penance, 2021)
4.5/5. G****mn it, these are merciless growls of a beast. Let the deathcore heat burn this f***ing sh*t down!
Slaughter to Prevail - "Misery Sermon" (from Misery Sermon, 2017)
4/5. Without a doubt a kick-A death metal/core headbanger, though I've struggled with the lyrics that are mostly Russian.
Darko US - "Splinter Cell" (from Darko, 2021)
4.5/5. The deathcore territory continues going nuts, as chaotic as Brand of Sacrifice. The heavier songs from the new alt-metalcore album from Spiritbox is still what I prefer, though this next song in the playlist would say otherwise...
Chelsea Grin - "Desolation of Eden" (from Desolation of Eden, 2020)
5/5. Now this is the deathcore I love that's so underrated! After a brutal one-minute intro buildup, the usual groove pace rolls in with vocals ranging from tortured-duck screams to yelling-frog growls.
The Dillinger Escape Plan - "Panasonic Youth" (from Miss Machine, 2004)
4.5/5. This one really blasts listeners in the face with punishing fury. There are many twists and turns with Greg Puciato's thunderous screaming, relentless guitars, quick passages, and tapping rhythms. The band slows down a bit for some grating bass and more pummeling drumming. The song picks up the sonic aggression again toward the end. Impressive for 2 and a half minute song!
Botch - "Saint Matthew Returns to the Womb" (from We Are the Romans, 1999)
4.5/5. This one will grab you by the throat and twist it with exotic changes and unrestrained riffs until you can't breathe. Not quite the best Botch song, but it certainly doesn't botch up its album or this playlist at all.
Converge - "Jane Doe" (Jane Doe, 2001)
5/5. Saving the absolute best for second-to-last, this 11 and a half minute title epic is probably the longest track by Converge. This is Converge's "Shogun"! It is the final piece of this metalcore puzzle that high-school hardcore fans would be blasting through their speakers. This is a brilliant incredible work of emotion! Bannon softly sings "I want out" in the chorus (much softer than Helloween's "I Want Out") to escape this nightmarish chaos. There's even a soloing section! At the 9-minute mark, Bannon screams the final lyrics, "RUN ON, GIRL, RUN ON!!!", as a riff makes an epic layering buildup going on until the fade-out. A terrific ending to a true metalcore closing epic!
Fear, and Loathing in Las Vegas - "Journey to Aim High" (from Feeling of Unity, 2015)
4.5/5. Feeling tired out as sh*t after another two-hour Revolution marathon? Take it easy and enjoy this final uplifting song while resting in a sunny flowery field. Relax! Smell the flowers. Enjoy your day in the sun. You earned it!
Wow, I really dig this playlist! That opinion might seem bad form, but let me even it out by saying that I would recommend it to any metalcore fan and anyone who isn't into metalcore but wants to get into a great start in enjoying the genre. Thanks Daniel for accepting this, and I hope the rest of you enjoy it like I've had!
Playlist compilers, I've now updated the tracklistings in each of the clans playlists so please feel free to create the monthly playlist threads & to add the tracklistings to the Past Tracklisting threads in each clan forum at your leisure.
I'm rather stunned that the new BFMV album has the alternative metal label. NO, this is nowhere near the alt-metal sound that has tainted their previous album Gravity. The 2021 album has real genuine metalcore, with heavy emphasis on the metal. Listen to the headbanging riffing, thrashy soloing, and monstrous groove found in modern metal/core. With that, I'd like Bullet for My Valentine's "Bullet for My Valentine" studio album to be sent to the Hall to be removed from The Gateway while maintaining the Revolution clan as melodic metalcore.
I've enjoyed what I've done with my semi-official username logo and decided to make something similar, this time as an unofficial Metal Academy logo, so here it is. Enjoy!